Corner-fastening for bedsteads.



WL B? FOSTER.

CORNER FASTENING FOR BEDSTEADS.

APPLIOATION EILED MAY 1; 1911. RENEWED FEB. 15, 1912.

1,021,185. Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

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' WITNESSES: INVENTOR 344%, William F2. F0 stm" ATTORNEYS l ll ans arr- WILLIAM B. FOSTER, OF UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 FOSTER BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COIVIIPANY,'A CORQORATION OF NEW YORK.

connnnrras'rnumo Eon annsrnans.

Application filed May 13, 1911, Serial No. 626,983.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WiLLiAM B. lr-osrnu, of'Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corner-Fastenings for Bedsteads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the reterencenumerals marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

The purpose of my invention is to provide an improved device for fastening together at the corners the parts of a inetal'bedstead.

The advantages of my invention are simplicity in construction of the parts and ease of assembling the same, combined with great strength, permanence and rigidity. The small number of parts used in the construction and their simplicity obtain economy in manufacture. The parts are of such form that they do not need to be made with great exactness and yet produce a neat and highly efficient corner fastening of wide adaptability.

My invention. is an improvement upon that form of corner fastening wherein a wedge has been used to draw the parts together by means of its being driven into a looped tongue which projects from one member through the other. This wedge construction was ditlicult to assemble and the wedge often worked loose.

Figure 1 is a perspective view ota bedstead cornerembodying my, invention, the sides of the corner post being partly broken away to better illustrate the construction. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same from the end of the bed, with parts or the post and end rail broken. away. Fig. 3 is a perspec tive view of the post block of Fig. 1. ll 4c is a horizontal sectional view thrcmgh a round corner post and post block of correspondingly modified form. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view. on a reduced scale through a head or foot.

Referring to the drawing in a more particular description the corner post (3 may be of tubing of any desired shape, such as square, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or circular as shown in Fig. 4. At the proper height'in the post 6, there is provided in its Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912. Renewed February 15. 1312. Serial No. 677,859.

through which extends a tongue 8 projecting an the other or horizontal member 'Wliltl] to be secured to the post. This other. member may be a pest block 9 to which the sidorail of the bed is to be detach: lily fa. toned by any desired nations. such as by a. tuperiug dovetailed tapering socket it) upon the 'l)'\ t block 9 is shown in the drawing, as that joint is not n'n'iterial to the subject muttin: of this invention; or the other meuil'ier may be the end rail 11 of which there are usually two, connecting two corner posts 6 to form the head or foot of the bedstead.

The tongue 8 may be formed integral with the horizontal member as shown with the post block 9 or it may be the projecting end of a separate bar such as bar extending into the end rail 11 and secured thereto as by screws 13. in either case the end of the horizontal nicn'iber from whicn the tongue 8 projects forms a shoulder it of crmsiderablo area and oil such :t'orm as to lit against the outer surface of the post 6 adjacent to the aperture 7.

The tongue 8 is provided. with a U-shaped eye 15, having the rounding" portion l6toward the outerend of the tongue and the straight sides 17 extending back toward the horizontal member to a point nearly in line with the shoulder 14 thereon. The eye 15 extends through the tongue 8 ina vertical' direction. Within the post (3 adjacent to the aperture 7 is preferably placed a reinforcing plate 18 havingan aperture 19 substantially of the size oi the aperture 7 and through this aperture 1.9 the tongue 8 projects into the interior of the post i). The side of this plate toward the inner surface of the post is shaped to lit llurrcagainst as the purpose of the plate is to distribute over a greater areaof the post f) the pressure from the tapering screw 20 which is inserted through the eye 15 of the tongue 8 in place of the wedge heretofore used. One end of the tapering screw 20 is provided with any suitable means for rotating the screw, such for eX- ample as the squared head 21, shown in the drawings, which can be easily and securely engaged by a socltetwrench having a shank long enough to reach down into the post.

After tholapering screw 20 has been inserted in the eye 15 of the tongue 8 and pushed down until it is in contact with the rounding side of the eye on one side and joint of whiclronly the ill the reinforcing plate 18 on the other side, the screw is rotated in the proper direction to screw it down and its projecting threads 22 bite onto the rounding portion 16 of the eye and onto the reinforcing plate 18 above and below the tongue with sutlicient force to cause the taptring screw to be screwed down into the eye; and as it is so screwed down a larger part of the screw is gradually brought into engagement with the eye, with the result, in an obvious manner. that the tongue 8 is drawn farther through the aperture 7 and the shoulder it of the horizontal member is drawn up against the outside of the post (1 with great force. The tighter the members are so drawn together, the firmer becomes the. hold of the contact parts upon the tapering screw and a very rigid fastening of the members is secured and one that will notloosen with nse or strain.

It will be noticed that the tightening of the joint is ellected by the tapering form of the screw but that this taper is: brought into use not by driving the screw straight down. bodily as a wedge. but by rotating it. This met-bod of applying power does not strain the parts as does'tbe driving in of a wedge and yet a much lighter and more permanent joint is easily secured. as the power is ap-- plied with much greater leverage than in a wedge of the same taper.

The reinforcing plate 1 is not necessar where tubing ol' snllicient thickness is ll ttl to withstand the strain but it is preferably used with ordinary tubing which is strong enough for the general purpose of the bedstead but not strong enough to stand the local strain ot such a tight joint.

The modification shown in Fig.5 may be advantageously used for the construction of the head or foot ot a bedstead and consists in having the bar t2 with tongues S at each end, extend entirely through the end rail 11 without being secured thereto by any means such as the screws 12-). in this construction the longitudinal pull is not directly transferred to the end rail it but is kept in the bar 1'. which draws together the posts (3 at each end until the end rail is closely contined between the two posts.

Obviously permanent side rails may be fastened to the post in the same way as the end rails 11, instead of using the post blocks 9 with detachable side rails. Vhere more than one of these fastenings are used'i'n one corner post, the lower 'one .may be placed in position first and then the one next above and so on. On the other hand, on account of the security of the tapering screw when once tightened, some of them may be placed in position from the lower end of the post, that is. with the larger end of the screw to- 'ard the bottom.

Any form of my corner fastening may be easily and readily taken apart by rotating the tapering screw in a backward direction until it is loose enough to be withdrawn entirely from the eye, whereupon the tongue may be at once removedfrom the post.

What I'claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a corner fastener for bedsteads, a member having an aperture in its side, a second member having a shoulder adapted to tit against said tirst member and a projecting tongue extending through said aperture. a recess in said tongue and a tapering screw adapted to be inserted in said recess and bear against the inside of said apertured member on each side of said tongue and draw said. shoulder against said first mem bcr upon rotation ot' said screw.

'3. in a corner t'astening for bedsteads, a post having an aperture in its side. a hori- Zontal member having an eyed tongue proecting t'rom its end through said aperture,

a shoulder upon the ends of the horizontal member adapted to tit against 'said post, and a tapering screw adapted to be inserted in said eye aml bear against the inside of aid apcrtured member and draw the hori zontal member toward the post upon rotation of said screw.

In witness whereof I have atlixednny signature. in the presence. of two witnesses,

this (3th day of May, 19! l.-

WIIJLIAM B. FOSTER.

-\\'it nesses: I

llannuc'r \VILLIAus, EMMA SHAW. 

